POPULATION. The population of Greater Lon don, in 1901, was 6,531,000. The population of the county and city of London was 4.537,000. Greater London contains more than one-fifth of the total population of England and Wales. :More than half of the inhabitants were born in London. and the remainder in other parts of Great Britain and Ireland, excepting about :3 per cent. who are natives of the British colo nies and foreign countries. Germans. French, Dutch, Pole', and Scandinavians are particu larly well represented; the number of Jews is more considerable than in any other city of England, and near the docks in the East End are not a few representatives of the Chinese, Hindus, and other Oriental peoples. Most fo• eigners who make their homes in London have gone there in search of bettenalmsiness opportu nities, but their number is proportionally not so large now as it was three centuries ago.
The death-rate is smaller than in many of the large cities of the world. The average mortality in ISSI was 21.6 per 1000. or less than that of the twenty other largest towns of England; in 1399, with a total mortality of 33.063, in London County, the death-rate was 19.4 per 1000. In the same year the births numbered 133,134, or 29.3 per 1000. The birth-rate largely exceeds the death-rate, and about three-fourths of the in crease in London population is derived from this source. The death-rate has steadily declined since the beginning of the 19th century, when it was first exceeded by the birth-rate. The number of marriages in 1899 was 41,376, or 13.4 per 1000 of the inhabitants—a little less than the mean rate in the ten years. 1370 to 1579. In 1339 the number of illegitimate births was 4749. or 3.6 per cent. of the total. The paupers of all classes (1399-1900) numbered 120.912. One of the greatest conveniences provided by the Govern ment for the eommon people is the numerous public bath: and wash-house:, which are patron ized by over 5.000,000 bathers and washers every
year.
Enre.tTioN. Over 500.000 pupils attend the common schools, 975 in number, which are scat tered all over the city. These are the public schools of London, under charge of the School Board. and costing the taxpayers S16.933,330 in 1900. The courses of study include all the common branches and are intended to fit the pupil for the ordinary vocation, of life. There are also a large number of middle-class schools, with more ex tended courses of study, which are supported by churches, corporations, societies, or endowments. Some of the endowed schools, such as Saint Paul's and Charterhouse, have existed for cen turies. London is not a great centre of univer sity instruction like Oxford and Cambridge. The University of London. previous to 1900 merely an examining body, embraces more than a score of institutions of all kinds, at the head of which are University College and King's College. The lectures of the University Extension are well attended, and are a useful feature of the free education system. A number of large industrial schools are supported from the public funds. Nowhere in the world are there finer facilities for obtaining a thorough training in medical and surgical science than in the College of Physicians. the College of Surgeons, the other medical schools, and the hospitals of London. Medical students are attracted thither from all parts of the world. The study of law is pursued at the Inns of Court (q.v.). Although London is not a great centre of university education, it may justly be regarded as the scientific and literary centre of the British Empire—a position given to it by its numerous scientific societies, with their large collections, its ;neat publishing houses. which issue more books than all the rest of Great Britain. and its newspapers and periodi cals, about 700 in number, which excel in influ ence and in literary quality.